Portland Dining Month- A Visit to Park Kitchen

March is Portland Dining Month! During this month, almost 100 restaurants in Portland will be offering a special menu of 3 courses for the low price of $29. In most cases, this prix fixed menu have multiple options for the three courses.

I covered some highlights from the list in my last post, and this time I wanted to recap one of my Portland Dining Month dinners, my first one- at Park Kitchen! Located in the North Park blocks, just a little walk from the Pearl but because of it’s location parking is very easy if you need to drive, though it is also only blocks away from the Portland Street Car or the Max Lines. Park Kitchen just recently celebrated it’s 10th anniversary. It is the older sibling restaurant to The Bent Brick (who is also participating in Portland Dining Month).

For Park Kitchen Portland Dining Month 3 courses for $29, it is a real value! Let me walk you through the options…

First Course

For the first course, you have the choice of two from their small plates section, either a hot small plate of Chickpea fries with squash ketchup, OR the cold small plate of Winter vegetable salad. I would recommend getting the Chickpea fries because they are famous here, and have been for years. I think there might be a riot if they took these off the menu.

In my case the squash ketchup was pumpkin ketchup, and you will want to scrape that empty. When I asked if the chickpea fries could be wrapped up to save room for the other courses and what little pumpkin ketchup was left included in the box, I was lucky enough to even get a little extra in the container, yay! You can see the serving of this hot small plate is more like medium size that can probably feed 4 people. Also you may notice that by total coincidence that Chef Gabriel Rucker (of Le Pigeon) in the background of my shot as he was also enjoying dinner at PK.

Second Course

For the second course, you have the choice of two large plate options, either the Milk braised pork with Your Kitchen Gardens leeks, curds and whey OR the Louisiana rice grits with trumpet royal mushrooms (vegetarian). Both these entrees alone you are already getting your money’s worth via Portland Dining Month, as that pork dish is normally at $29, and I think the grits at $27.

I picked the pork and it’s a beautiful, delicious plate. It made me wonder why it’s been so long since my last visit to Park Kitchen, as this plate was so excellently executed and full of flavors. Sorry, I’ll do better now PK, I will not take you for granted.

Third Course

Sticky date pudding with vanilla-rum ice cream and confit lemon. I love how the very tart confit lemon contrasts with the sticky richness of the date pudding.

Not part of the 3 courses, but because I needed a little something was this Park Kitchen cocktail of Burnsidecar with Whiskey, Cointreau, Lemon, Angostura Bitters, Spicy Chipotle Sugar Rim.

Check out the Downtown Portland Portland Dining Month website for a map of where the various participating restaurants are located to be convenient for you, as well as menu listings. If you are interested specifically in which ones have vegetarian or gluten-free options, Portland Monthly has put together a list.

I am also still in the midst of doing a free giveaway where I am giving away a dinner for two at a Portland Dining Month restaurant! You can still enter, but hurry up because it ends Thursday at midnight (when it turns into Friday)!Giveaway has endeda Rafflecopter giveaway

Comments

Wow- that looks like a good deal! I’ve been wondering if the spendier restaurants will be cutting back on the dishes, but it looks like that isn’t the case here. I’ve enjoyed this restaurant before, and rice grits sound intriguing!

If my dishes are indicative of how flavorful their food is for the grits dish, it probably is a vegetarian winner, and they are clearly not cutting back on portions at all for those who choose those dishes off the menu normally vs for Portland Dining Month!

I love Portland Dining Month – it is such a great way to discover new-to-you eateries! The pumpkin ketchup sounds wonderful – I love all the new spins on ketchup we are seeing around town! And that sticky date pudding has me thinking about those bacon-dates from the other night. Mmmm…

Park Kitchen is yet another place I have meant to go to for YEARS but have never been. Your review makes me wonder what on earth is taking me so long to get there! It all looks and sounds delicious! Especially that cocktail.

I can’t believe this was only my second time there, and I wondered why it had taken so long to go back, it was such a great dinner! It’s also fabulous during the summer when you can sit outside and dine looking out into the North Park blocks, maybe play some bocce before/after!

Yum! I have never been to Park Kitchen. I will have to give that a try sometime. Jason and I went to Departure for Portland Dining Month (and for our anniversary) and it was AMAZING! We had never been there before, so that was super fun. It seems like they get more hotel guests than locals, but the menu was pretty creative and the desserts were some of the best I’ve ever had (in Portland, or elsewhere). Portland Dining Month is so much fun!

Glad you liked it! I usually go to Departure for drinks, but have eaten there a few times and think they do pretty innovative flavor combinations. Glad you enjoyed it and had a great anniversary date night!

About Pech

Pechluck's Food Adventures
Enjoying deliciousness in Portland & wherever travels may lead me.
My name is Pech, short for Pechluck. I enjoy adventures in eating - dining out and cooking and imbibing for local Portland deliciousness or wherever travels lead.

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Disclosure: There may be at times sponsored posts where the ticket to an event or meal or sample product to review was complimentary, but I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.